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《银椅子》 第三章 国王起航

所属教程:纳尼亚传奇7本全

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2019年02月01日

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CHAPTER THREE THE SAILING OF THE KING

WHAT made Scrubb look so dingy(and Jill too,if she could only have seen herself)was the splendour of their surroundings. I had better describe them at once.
Through a cleft in those mountains which Jill had seen far inland as she approached the land,the sunset light was pouring over a level lawn. On the far side of the lawn,its weather-vanes glittering in the light,rose a many-towered and many-turreted castle;the most beautiful castle Jill had ever seen. On the near side was a quay of white marble and,moored to this,the ship:a tall ship with high forecastle and high poop,gilded and crimson,with a great flag at the mast-head,and many banners waving from the decks,and a row of shields,bright as silver,along the bulwarks. The gang-plank was laid to her,and at the foot of it,just ready to go on board,stood an old,old man. He wore a rich mantle of scarlet which opened in front to show his silver mail shirt. There was a thin circlet of gold on his head. His beard,white as wool,fell nearly to his waist. He stood straight enough,leaning one hand on the shoulder of a richly dressed lord who seemed younger than himself:but you could see he was very old and frail. He looked as if a puff of wind could blow him away,and his eyes were watery.
Immediately in front of the King—who had turned round to speak to his people before going on board the ship—there was a little chair on wheels,and,harnessed to it,a little donkey:not much bigger than a big retriever. In this chair sat a fat little dwarf. He was as richly dressed as the King,but because of his fatness and because he was sitting hunched up among cushions,the effect was quite different:it made him look like a shapeless little bundle of fur and silk and velvet. He was as old as the King,but more hale and hearty,with very keen eyes. His bare head,which was bald and extremely large,shone like a gigantic billiard ball in the sunset light.
Farther back,in a half-circle,stood what Jill at once knew to be the courtiers. They were well worth looking at for their clothes and armour alone. As far as that went,they looked more like a flower-bed than a crowd. But what really made Jill open her eyes and mouth as wide as they would go,was the people themselves. If“people”was the right word. For only about one in every five was human. The rest were things you never see in our world. Fauns, satyrs,centaurs:Jill could give a name to these,for she had seen pictures of them. Dwarfs too. And there were a lot of animals she knew as well;bears,badgers,moles,leopards,mice,and various birds. But then they were so very different from the animals which one called by the same names in England. Some of them were much bigger—the mice,for instance,stood on their hind legs and were over two feet high. But quite apart from that,they all looked different. You could see by the expression in their faces that they could talk and think just as well as you could.
“Golly !”thought Jill. “So it’s true after all.”But next moment she added,“I wonder are they friendly ?”For she had just noticed, on the outskirts of the crowd,one or two giants and some people whom she couldn’t give a name to at all.
At that moment Aslan and the signs rushed back into her mind. She had forgotten all about them for the last half-hour.
“Scrubb !”she whispered,grabbing his arm. “Scrubb, quick ! Do you see anyone you know ?”
“So you’ve turned up again,have you ?”said Scrubb disagreeably(for which he had some reason). “Well,keep quiet,can’t you ? I want to listen.”
“Don’t be a fool,”said Jill. “There isn’t a moment to lose. Don’t you see some old friend here ? Because you’ve got to go and speak to him at once.”
“What are you talking about ?”said Scrubb.
“It’s Aslan—the Lion—says you’ve got to,”said Jill despairingly. “I’ve seen him.”
“Oh,you have,have you ? What did he say ?”
“He said the very first person you saw in Narnia would be an old friend,and you’d got to speak to him at once.”
“Well,there’s nobody here I’ve ever seen in my life before;and anyway,I don’t know whether this is Narnia.”
“Thought you said you’d been here before,”said Jill.
“Well,you thought wrong then.”
“Well,I like that ! You told me—”
“For heaven’s sake dry up and let’s hear what they’re saying.”
The King was speaking to the Dwarf,but Jill couldn’t hear what he said. And,as far as she could make out,the Dwarf made no answer,though he nodded and wagged his head a great deal. Then the King raised his voice and addressed the whole court:but his voice was so old and cracked that she could understand very little of his speech—especially since it was all about people and places she had never heard of. When the speech was over,the King stooped down and kissed the Dwarf on both cheeks,straightened himself, raised his right hand as if in blessing,and went,slowly and with feeble steps,up the gangway and on board the ship. The courtiers appeared to be greatly moved by his departure. Handkerchiefs were got out,sounds of sobbing were heard in every direction. The gangway was cast off,trumpets sounded from the poop,and the ship moved away from the quay. (It was being towed by a rowing-boat,but Jill didn’t see that.)
“Now—”said Scrubb,but he didn’t get any farther,because at that moment a large white object—Jill thought for a second that it was a kite—came gliding through the air and alighted at his feet. It was a white owl,but so big that it stood as high as a good-sized dwarf.
It blinked and peered as if it were short-sighted,and put its head a little on one side,and said in a soft,hooting kind of voice:
“Tu-whoo,tu-whoo ! Who are you two ?”
“My name’s Scrubb,and this is Pole,”said Eustace. “Would you mind telling us where we are ?”
“In the land of Narnia,at the King’s castle of Cair Paravel.”
“Is that the King who’s just taken ship ?”
“Too true,too true,”said the Owl sadly,shaking its big head. “But who are you ? There’s something magic about you two. I saw you arrive:you flew. Everyone else was so busy seeing the King off that nobody knew. Except me. I happened to notice you, you flew.”
“We were sent here by Aslan,”said Eustace in a low voice.
“Tu-whoo,tu-whoo !”said the Owl,ruffling out its feathers. “This is almost too much for me,so early in the evening. I’m not quite myself till the sun’s down.”
“And we’ve been sent to find the lost Prince,”said Jill,who had been anxiously waiting to get into the conversation.
“It’s the first I’ve heard about it,”said Eustace. “What prince ?”
“You had better come and speak to the Lord Regent at once,”it said. “That’s him,over there in the donkey carriage;Trumpkin the Dwarf.”The bird turned and began leading the way,muttering to itself,“Whoo ! Tu-whoo ! What a to-do ! I can’t think clearly yet. It’s too early.”
“What is the King’s name ? ”asked Eustace.
“Caspian the Tenth,”said the Owl. And Jill wondered why Scrubb had suddenly pulled up short in his walk and turned an extraordinary colour. She thought she had never seen him look so sick about anything. But before she had time to ask any questions they had reached the dwarf,who was just gathering up the reins of his donkey and preparing to drive back to the castle. The crowd of courtiers had broken up and were going in the same direction, by ones and twos and little knots,like people coming away from watching a game or a race.
“Tu-whoo ! Ahem ! Lord Regent,”said the Owl,stooping down a little and holding its beak near the Dwarf’s ear.
“Heh ? What’s that ?”said the Dwarf.
“Two strangers,my lord,”said the Owl.
“Rangers ! What d’ye mean ?”said the Dwarf. “I see two uncommonly grubby man-cubs. What do they want ?”
“My name’s Jill,”said Jill,pressing forward. She was very eager to explain the important business on which they had come.
“The girl’s called Jill,”said the Owl,as loud as it could.
“What’s that ?”said the Dwarf. “The girls are all killed ! I don’t believe a word of it. What girls ? Who killed’em ?”
“Only one girl,my lord,”said the Owl. “Her name is Jill.”
“Speak up,speak up,”said the Dwarf. “Don’t stand there buzzing and twittering in my ear. Who’s been killed ?”
“Nobody’s been killed,”hooted the Owl.
“Who ?”
“Nobody.”
all that. What do you mean by coming here to tell me that nobody’s been killed ? Why should anyone have been killed ?”
“Better tell him I’m Eustace,”said Scrubb.
“The boy’s Eustace,my lord,”hooted the Owl as loud as it could.
“Useless ?”said the Dwarf irritably. “I dare say he is. Is that any reason for bringing him to court ? Hey ?”
“Not useless,”said the Owl. “Eustace.”
“Used to it,is he ? I don’t know what you’re talking about, I’m sure. I tell you what it is,Master Glimfeather;when I was a young Dwarf there used to be talking beasts and birds in this country who really could talk. There wasn’t all this mumbling and muttering and whispering. It wouldn’t have been tolerated for a moment. Not for a moment,Sir. Urnus,my trumpet please—”
A little Faun who had been standing quietly beside the Dwarf’s elbow all this time now handed him a silver eartrumpet. It was made like the musical instrument called a serpent,so that the tube curled right round the Dwarf’s neck. While he was getting it settled the Owl,Glimfeather,suddenly said to the children in a whisper:“My brain’s a bit clearer now. Don’t say anything about the lost Prince. I’ll explain later. It wouldn’t do,wouldn’t do, Tu-Whoo ! Oh what a to-do !”
“Now,”said the Dwarf,“if you have anything sensible to say,Master Glimfeather,try and say it. Take a deep breath and don’t attempt to speak too quickly.”
With help from the children,and in spite of a fit of coughing on the part of the Dwarf,Glimfeather explained that the strangers had been sent by Aslan to visit the court of Narnia. The Dwarf glanced quickly up at them with a new expression in his eyes.
“Sent by the Lion Himself,hey ?”he said. “And from— m’m—from that other Place—beyond the world’s end,hey ?”
“Yes,my lord,”bawled Eustace into the trumpet.
“Son of Adam and Daughter of Eve,hey ? ”said the Dwarf. But people at Experiment House haven’t heard of Adam and Eve, so Jill and Eustace couldn’t answer this. But the Dwarf didn’t seem to notice.
“Well,my dears,”he said,taking first one and then the other by the hand and bowing his head a little. “You are very heartily welcome. If the good King,my poor Master,had not this very hour set sail for Seven Isles,he would have been glad of your coming. It would have brought back his youth to him for a moment—for a moment. And now,it is high time for supper. You shall tell me your business in full council tomorrow morning. Master Glimfeather,see that bedchambers and suitable clothes and all else are provided for these guests in the most honourable fashion. And—Glimfeather—in your ear—”
Here the Dwarf put his mouth close to the Owl’s head and, no doubt,intended to whisper:but,like other deaf people, he wasn’t a very good judge of his own voice,and both children heard him say,“See that they’re properly washed.”
After that,the Dwarf touched up his donkey and it set off towards the castle at something between a trot and a waddle(it was a very fat little beast),while the Faun,the Owl,and the children followed at a rather slower pace. The sun had set and the air was growing cool.
They went across the lawn and then through an orchard and so to the North Gate of Cair Paravel,which stood wide open. Inside,they found a grassy courtyard. Lights were already showing from the windows of the great hall on their right and from a more complicated mass of buildings straight ahead. Into these the Owl led them,and there a most delightful person was called to look after Jill. She was not much taller than Jill herself,and a good deal slenderer,but obviously full grown,graceful as a willow,and her hair was willowy too,and there seemed to be moss in it. She brought Jill to a round room in one of the turrets,where there was a little bath sunk in the floor and a fire of sweet-smelling woods burning on the flat hearth and a lamp hanging by a silver chain from the vaulted roof. The window looked west into the strange land of Narnia,and Jill saw the red remains of the sunset still glowing behind distant mountains. It made her long for more adventures and feel sure that this was only the beginning.
When she had had her bath,and brushed her hair,and put on the clothes that had been laid out for her—they were the kind that not only felt nice,but looked nice and smelled nice and made nice sounds when you moved as well—she would have gone back to gaze out of that exciting window,but she was interrupted by a bang on the door.
“Come in,”said Jill. And in came Scrubb,also bathed and splendidly dressed in Narnian clothes. But his face didn’t look as if he were enjoying it.
“Oh,here you are at last,”he said crossly,flinging himself into a chair. “I’ve been trying to find you for ever so long.”
“Well,now you have,”said Jill. “I say,Scrubb,isn’t it all simply too exciting and scrumptious for words.”She had forgotten all about the signs and the lost Prince for the moment.
“Oh ! That’s what you think,is it ?”said Scrubb,and then, after a pause,“I wish to goodness we’d never come.”
“Why on earth ?”
“I can’t bear it,”said Scrubb. “Seeing the King—Caspian—a doddering old man like that. It’s—it’s frightful.”
“Why,what harm does it do you ?”
“Oh,you don’t understand. Now that I come to think of it, you couldn’t. I didn’t tell you that this world has a different time from ours.”
“How do you mean ?”
“The time you spend here doesn’t take up any of our time. Do you see ? I mean,however long we spend here,we shall still get back to Experiment House at the moment we left it—”
“That won’t be much fun—”
“Oh,dry up ! Don’t keep interrupting. And when you’re back in England—in our world—you can’t tell how time is going here. It might be any number of years in Narnia while we’re having one year at home. The Pevensies explained it all to me,but,like a fool,I forgot about it. And now apparently it’s been about seventy years—Narnian years—since I was here last. Do you see now ? And I come back and find Caspian an old,old man.”
“Then the King was an old friend of yours !”said Jill. A horrid thought had struck her.
“I should jolly well think he was,”said Scrubb miserably. “About as good a friend as a chap could have. And last time he was only a few years older than me. And to see that old man with a white beard,and to remember Caspian as he was the morning we captured the Lone Islands,or in the fight with the Sea Serpent— oh,it’s frightful. It’s worse than coming back and finding him dead.”
“Oh,shut up,”said Jill impatiently. “It’s far worse than you think. We’ve muffed the first Sign.”Of course Scrubb did not understand this. Then Jill told him about her conversation with Aslan and the four signs and the task of finding the lost prince which had been laid upon them.
“So you see,”she wound up,“you did see an old friend,just as Aslan said,and you ought to have gone and spoken to him at once. And now you haven’t,and everything is going wrong from the very beginning.”
“But how was I to know ?”said Scrubb.
“If you’d only listened to me when I tried to tell you,we’d be all right,”said Jill.
“Yes,and if you hadn’t played the fool on the edge of that cliff and jolly nearly murdered me—all right,I said murder,and I’ll say it again as often as I like,so keep your hair on—we’d have come together and both known what to do.”
“I suppose he was the first person you saw ?”said Jill. “You must have been here hours before me. Are you sure you didn’t see anyone else first ?”
“I was only here about a minute before you,”said Scrubb. “He must have blown you quicker than me. Making up for lost time: the time you lost.”
“Don’t be a perfect beast,Scrubb,”said Jill. “Hallo ! What’s that ?”
It was the castle bell ringing for supper,and thus what looked like turning into a first-rate quarrel was happily cut short. Both had a good appetite by this time.
Supper in the great hall of the castle was the most splendid thing either of them had ever seen;for though Eustace had been in that world before,he had spent his whole visit at sea and knew nothing of the glory and courtesy of the Narnians at home in their own land. The banners hung from the roof,and each course came in with trumpeters and kettledrums. There were soups that would make your mouth water to think of,and the lovely fishes called pavenders,and venison and peacock and pies,and ices and jellies and fruit and nuts,and all manner of wines and fruit drinks. Even Eustace cheered up and admitted that it was“something like”. And when all the serious eating and drinking was over,a blind poet came forward and struck up the grand old tale of Prince Cor and Aravis and the horse Bree,which is called The Horse and his Boy and tells of an adventure that happened in Narnia and Calormen and the lands between,in the Golden Age when Peter was High King in Cair Paravel. (I haven’t time to tell it now,though it is well worth hearing.)
When they were dragging themselves upstairs to bed,yawning their heads off,Jill said,“I bet we sleep well tonight”;for it had been a full day. Which just shows how little anyone knows what is going to happen to them next.




第三章 国王起航

他们周围的景象太雄伟了,这让尤斯塔斯看起来更加邋遢(姬尔也没有好到哪里去,如果她照照镜子的话)。现在我就来给大家描绘一下周围的景象。
姬尔刚才就要落地的时候,透过山峰之间的缝隙看到过远处的大地。耀眼的阳光倾泻在一片平坦的草地上,远处的风向标闪闪发光, 一座美丽的城堡矗立在尽头,露出很多尖塔和角楼。姬尔的不远处, 是一个用大理石砌成的码头,停靠着一艘高大的船。船首、船尾楼都很高大,金色和深红色相间的桅杆上,一面大旗迎风招展,一排盾形图徽在船身上闪耀着银色的光芒。一个跳板从船上延伸到码头, 一个老人正要走上去。他穿着一件华丽的猩红色斗篷,前襟敞开,露出银色的盔甲。头上戴着细细的金环,长长的白胡子一直垂到腰际。他就是国王,他挺胸站直,一只手放在一个比他年轻些的贵族肩上。那个人年纪也不小了,穿着华丽两眼却闪着泪花。他个子瘦小,显得很虚弱,好像一阵风就能把他吹走似的。
国王正在跟他的子民们告别。一匹小小的驴车紧挨着国王,那驴子很小,只有一只猎狗那么大。一个小矮人坐在驾驶座上,他穿得跟国王一样华贵,但是他矮小、肥胖而且还佝偻着身子,不仔细看有可能会误以为那只是一堆乱糟糟的皮毛、丝绸和丝绒。小矮人看起来跟国王一样老迈,但是两只眼睛炯炯有神,显得很健壮。小矮人没有戴帽子,露出一颗灯泡一样的秃脑袋,在阳光下锃光发亮。
一群人围在国王身边,姬尔一看就知道那一定是大臣们,看他们的衣服和盔甲就知道了。不过他们站成一排,看起来就好像是一个花坛一样。这倒不足为奇,那些“百姓”才让人感觉奇怪,如果那些人可以称为“百姓”的话。他们大部分人并不是人类,而且是在我们世界中从来没有见过的农牧神、树精、人马,姬尔也只是在图画书中见过。还有小矮人和一些她认得出来的动物:熊、獾、睡鼠、豹、老鼠以及各种鸟儿。这些动物也和姬尔见过的不同,大部分体型超大——比如说老鼠,他们至少有两英尺高,靠后腿站着,长相各异。从动物们脸上的表情可以看出,它们就像你能想到的那样,能思考, 会说话。
“我的天!”姬尔自言自语,“到最后,这些竟然都是真的。” 过了一会她又想,“也不知道它们对人友不友好。”之前她注意到人群外面有一两个巨人,还有不知道怎么称呼的生灵。
这时,姬尔脑海中突然闪现阿斯兰和他的指示,她差点就忘了!
“尤斯塔斯!”她一把抓住他的胳膊,小声说道,“尤斯塔斯, 你快看看,有没有你认识的人?”
“你从哪里冒出来的?”尤斯塔斯不高兴地说道(他的行为很容易理解),“行了,安静点,我正听国王讲话呢。”
“别傻了,”姬尔说,“快没时间了。赶快看看有没有你的老朋友在,你必须立刻跟他打声招呼。”
“你在说什么,我听不懂。”尤斯塔斯说。
“阿斯兰说你必须得去,”姬尔有些失望,“我已经见过他了。”
“噢,真的吗?你见过他了?他跟你说什么了?”
“他说你在纳尼亚见到的第一个人会是你的老朋友,你必须立刻去跟他打声招呼。”
“哎,可是这儿的人我都没见过,就算真有什么老朋友,我也不知道这里到底是不是纳尼亚啊。”
“那你还说你以前来过?”姬尔说。
“嗯,是你误会了”。
“亏你说得出口,你明明告诉我……”
“看在上帝的份上,别那么多废话了,咱们还是听听他们在说什么吧。”
姬尔只看到国王正在跟那个小矮人说话,却听不见他在说什么, 只见小矮人不停地点头、摇头。接着国王亮开嗓子对全场人讲话,他的声音显得苍老而沙哑。姬尔几乎完全听不懂,毕竟她不属于这里, 不了解这里的百姓,也不熟悉这里的风土人情。完了之后国王弯腰吻了吻小矮人的两颊,接着站直身子,举起右手,好像在祝福所有人, 最后他慢慢地走上跳板上船去了。大臣们都伤心极了,很多人掏出了手帕,哭声一片。跳板被撤走之后,号角响起,大船就离开了码头。(大船被一条划艇拖走,不过姬尔没看见)。
“现在……”尤斯塔斯刚张嘴,就被一个又大又白的东西打断了——姬尔还以为那是只风筝——它从空中滑翔过来,落在尤斯塔斯脚边。原来那是一只白色的猫头鹰,个头很大,站在那里有一个小矮人那么高。
它眨巴眨巴双眼,紧紧地盯着他们看,脑袋歪着,温柔地说道:
“哎哟,哎哟!你们是什么人啊?”
“我是尤斯塔斯,她是姬尔·姬尔,”尤斯塔斯说,“您能告诉我们, 这是哪里吗?”
“这里是纳尼亚,凯尔帕拉维尔国王的城堡。”
“刚刚上船的那个人就是国王?”
“对,对。”猫头鹰摇晃着大脑袋,伤心地说道。“不过,你们是谁啊?你们两个都会魔法,我看见你们两个都是飞过来的。大家都忙着为国王送行,没人注意你们。只有我看到你们飞过来。”
“是阿斯兰派我们来的。”尤斯塔斯低声说道。
“哎哟,哎哟!”猫头鹰一边说一边竖起了翅膀,“大白天的真难受,太阳不下山,我总是觉得不舒服。”
“我们被派来寻找失踪的王子。”姬尔早就想插话了。
“这事我可是头一次听说,”尤斯塔斯说,“什么王子?”
“你们最好现在就去跟摄政王谈谈,”猫头鹰说,“那个就是, 驴车里的那个小矮人,杜鲁普金。”猫头鹰一边转过身为他们领路, 一边碎碎念:“嗬,喔唷,什么乱七八糟的。我都没法静下心来思考。现在还早。”
“国王叫什么名字?”尤斯塔斯问道。
“凯斯宾十世。”猫头鹰说。尤斯塔斯突然停下来,脸色很难看, 姬尔不知道他是怎么回事,毕竟她从来没见过尤斯塔斯这样。但是她还没来得及问,他们就已经走到小矮人跟前了。他正收起缰绳,准备驾车回到城堡里去。大臣们也都散开了,三五成群的离去,就好像人们开完运动会或比赛结束时那样。
“嗒呼!嗯哈!摄政王!”猫头鹰弯下腰, 贴着小矮人的耳朵说道。
“嗯!怎么啦?”小矮人说。
“有两个陌生人,公爵。”猫头鹰说。
“守林人!你说什么?”小矮人说,“我只看到两个邋遢的野孩子,不知道他们来这里做什么?”
“我叫姬尔。”姬尔挤到前面说,她急着要说明他们的使命。
“这女孩叫姬尔,”猫头鹰竭力大声说道。
“什么?”小矮人说,“女孩们都被杀了?我才不信呢,哪些女孩?谁干的?”
“就一个女孩儿,公爵,”猫头鹰说,“她叫姬尔。”
“大点声,大点声,”小矮人说,“别傻站在那,在我耳边唧唧歪歪。到底是谁被杀了?”
“没有人被杀。”猫头鹰喊道。
“谁?”
“没有人。”
“好了,好了。你没必要大声嚷嚷,我还没聋到那个地步。你跑来跟我说没有人被杀是什么意思?难道有人应该被杀吗?”
“你最好告诉他,我是尤斯塔斯。”尤斯塔斯说。
“这个男孩名叫尤斯塔斯,公爵。”猫头鹰大喊道。
“没用处? [2]”小矮人急乎乎的说,“他敢说是没用处,那你把他带来干吗?啊?”
“不是没用处,”猫头鹰说,“是尤斯塔斯。”
“到底有事还是没事?你到底在说些什么?葛林米费瑟,在我还年轻的时候,鸟兽们就会说话了,那才是真正的说话。才不是这样唧唧歪歪!你这样讲话,我简直一秒都受不了。鄂娜思,请把我的助听器拿过来……”
站在小矮人身边的一只小羊怪拿过来一只银质的助听器,那玩意就好像一条蛇一样,盘在小矮人的脖子上。当他戴助听器的时候, 猫头鹰葛林米费瑟突然悄悄对两个孩子说道:“我明白了。别提失踪王子的事了。这个我回头给你们解释。那样是行不通的,行不通。呜啊, 太乱了。”
“好了,”小矮人说,“如果你有什么事要说,葛林米费瑟大师, 那就说吧。先做个深呼吸,可别又说得太快了。”
虽然小矮人总是咳嗽,不过在两个孩子的帮助下,葛林米费瑟总算说明白了,眼前这两个陌生人是阿斯兰派来的。小矮人听完突然迅速地看了他们一眼。
“狮王亲自派你们来的?嗯?”他说“而且是从……嗯……从那边……从这个世界的尽头来的,是吗?”
“是的,公爵。”尤斯塔斯对着助听器大喊道。
“亚当的儿子和夏娃的女儿,是吧?”小矮人说。不过实验学校的老师从来没教过亚当和夏娃,所以姬尔和尤斯塔斯没法回答这个问题。不过小矮人似乎并不介意。
“好吧,亲爱的,”他一边拉起两个孩子的手,轻轻地点了点头,“欢迎你们。你看我可怜的主人,善良的国王,如果他没有乘船去七群岛的话,准会因为你们的到来而高兴的。他会觉得回到了他的年轻时代,虽然只是一会儿。现在已经到了晚饭时间了,明天早晨议事的时候,你可以将他们的事原原本本地告诉我。葛林米费瑟大师, 请您务必按照最高规格的标准给这两位贵宾准备衣服、食物和卧室。还有——葛林米费瑟——你附耳过来……”
说到这儿,小矮人把嘴巴凑到猫头鹰的耳朵旁,毫无疑问他是想要说点悄悄话的。不过跟其他聋子一样,他自己的音量难以控制,他们两个都听见他说:“务必让他们好好洗洗。”
说完,小矮人轻轻扬起鞭子拍了一下小驴子,就向城堡出发了, 步伐不紧不慢,摇摇晃晃(拉车的是一头很肥的驴子),小羊怪、猫头鹰和两个孩子则放慢脚步紧随其后。这时候,太阳已经下山,空气也变得凉爽多了。
他们越过草地,走过果园,来到了凯尔帕拉维尔北门口。此时门口大开,里面是一个青草萋萋的院落,右边的大厅窗户和正前方一大片结构复杂的楼房里都已经亮灯了。猫头鹰领着他们走了进去, 叫来了一个很讨人喜欢的女孩照顾姬尔。她和姬尔个头差不多,不过更苗条些,而且明显是个成年人。她的气质好像杨柳那样温和,就连头发也像杨柳一样,丝丝缕缕的。她把姬尔带到一座塔楼上一间圆形房间里。壁炉里生着火,木柴香气扑鼻,一只小浴缸立在中央,从拱形的屋顶上垂下来的银链子上吊着一盏灯。从朝西的窗户中望去, 可以看到纳尼亚的国土。姬尔看到落日的余晖把远处的群山渲染成一片红色。她开始期待即将来临的奇遇,她相信这一切才刚刚开始。
姬尔洗完澡,梳好头,穿上他们准备的衣服。这些衣服摸起来很舒服,散发着香气,走动的时候还会发出悦耳的声响。她正想再仔细看看窗外那叫人兴奋的景色,没想到“砰”的敲门声把她吓了一跳。
“进来。”姬尔说。是尤斯塔斯,他也洗了澡,穿着华丽的纳尼亚服饰,不过他似乎不太高兴。
“噢,总算找到你了。”他明显还在发脾气,一屁股坐在椅子上, “我一直都在找你。”
“好吧,你现在不是找到了吗,”姬尔说,“我说尤斯塔斯, 这里真是太令人兴奋了,好得我都不知道该说什么了。”这时,她已经把阿斯兰的指示和失踪的王子全都抛诸脑后了。


“噢!那只是你的想法。”尤斯塔斯说,他停顿了一下,“我倒宁愿咱们没来过。”
“你到底怎么了?”
“我受不了,”尤斯塔斯说,“国王凯斯宾变成那么老的老头儿。这简直……简直太可怕了。”
“为什么?那又怎么啦?”
“喔,你不明白。我知道了,你是没法想象。我并没有告诉你这里的时间和我们的时间不同。”
“什么意思?”
“这里的时间跟我们的时间并不同步,明白吗?我的意思是,不管我们在这里待多久,回去的时候仍然是咱们离开的那个时候……”
“那就真的不好玩了……”
“喔,闭嘴,别老打断我。一旦你回到英国,也就是我们的世界, 你压根说不出来这里的时间是怎么回事。我们在英国待上一年,这里已经过去多少年了。佩文西兄妹跟我说过的,可是我却跟个傻瓜一样的忘得一干二净。现在,按照纳尼亚的时间来算,距离我上次来到这里,已经过去七十年啦。现在你明白了吧。我回来的时候,凯斯宾已经是个老老头了。
“这么说国王是你的一个老朋友啦?”姬尔说,突然她有种不祥的预感。
“我想是的,”尤斯塔斯痛苦地说道,“他是个非常好的朋友。上次来的时候,他只比我大几岁,现在看看那个白胡子老头,再想想我们一起占领孤独群岛的时候,大战海蛇时候的凯斯宾——噢,这太可怕了,比我回来之后发现他已经死了还可怕。”
“噢,停,”姬尔不耐烦地说道,“事情比想象的还要糟,我己和阿斯兰的谈话、四点指示和寻找失踪王子的任务通通告诉了他。
“这下你该明白了吧,”她说道,“就像阿斯兰说的那样,你确实看到了一个老朋友,你本来应该立刻去跟他说话的,结果你没去, 于是就乱套了。”
“可是我哪里会知道?”尤斯塔斯说。
“我那会想要告诉你的,你要是听我说就好了。”姬尔说。
“是啊,如果不是你在悬崖边上胡闹,还差点害死我的话。记住, 我差点被你害死了。只要我乐意,我还会这样说的,以便让你保持镇定。我们早就可以一块儿到这里来,早就知道该做些什么的。”
“我想他一定是你看到的第一个人。”姬尔说,“你一定比我早到好几个小时。你确定之前没有先看见其他人吗?”
“我只比你早到一分钟,”尤斯塔斯说,“他肯定是把你吹得比我快,补上了被耽误的时间——被你耽误的时间。”
“别不说人话,尤斯塔斯,”姬尔说,“咦,发生什么事了?”
城堡里响起了晚餐钟声,一场口舌之战就这样被打断了,两个人早就饿了。
城堡大厅的豪华,是他们两个从未见过的。尤斯塔斯虽然以前来过纳尼亚,但是他上次大部分时间都是在海上,对于纳尼亚人的排场和礼节一无所知。高大的屋顶上挂着许多旗帜,每上一道菜前都会击鼓吹号。那一道又一道美食令人垂涎欲滴。名为帕文德的鱼, 还有鹿肉、孔雀肉、馅饼、蛋糕、果冻、水果、果仁,美味的汤汁, 各种各样的美酒和果汁。尤斯塔斯也不得不承认这顿饭确实“很像回事”!等他们一本正经的吃完之后,还有一个盲诗人表演《勇士与马》, 讲述的是科奥王子和阿拉维斯、老马布里的历险故事。那是彼得在凯尔帕拉维尔做至尊王时期,发生在纳尼亚和卡乐门地区的一次奇遇。(虽然这个故事非常精彩,不过现在我可没有时间给大家说这个。)
当他们上楼睡觉的时候,都已经困得哈欠连天,路都走不好了。姬尔说:“我们今晚一定要睡个好觉。”因为这一天已经过得太充实了, 他们不知道接下来还会发生什么事。







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